Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman to report on any requests to submit petitions or to address the meeting.

There were no petitions or requests to address the meeting.

The Chairman to advise whether they have agreed to any item of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

There was no urgent business.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meetings of the Committees held on 14 March 2011 and 18 May 2011.

The Minutes of the meetings held on 14 March 2011 and 18 May 2011 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Benefits Investigations Manager and the Council’s Internal Auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers will brief Members on the Bribery Act and Corporate fraud awareness and introduce the Council’s draft Anti-Bribery Policy (attached for information).

Cherwell District Council’s Investigations Manager and the Senior Counter-Fraud Specialist, PricewaterhouseCoopers (the Council’s internal auditor) gave a presentation on corporate fraud. The presentation provided an overview of fraud in the public sector and action that was being taken nationally and locally to address this.

The Committee was advised that the Bribery Act 2010 gained Royal assent on 8 April 2010 and created a corporate offence of failure to prevent bribery, and required the Council to implement adequate procedures to prevent bribery. The Act would come into force from 1 July 2011. The Investigations Manager presented the draft Anti-Bribery Policy which would contribute to the Council fulfilling this requirement and limit the Council’s risk of exposure to bribery.  

In response to Members’ questions, the Investigations Manager explained that the Council’s Anti-Bribery Policy would apply to officers, elected Members and stakeholders.

The Committee agreed that the Anti-Bribery Policy should be admitted as an urgent item to the 22 June 2011 Accounts, Audit and Risk Committee agenda to enable the final version of the policy to be endorsed before the Bribery Act 2010 enters into force on 1 July 2011.

This is an opportunity for the Committee to scrutinise the 2010/11 Statutory Accounts in advance of the 22 June 2011 meeting of the Accounts, Audit and Risk Committee. The Latest draft of the Statutory Accounts will be distributed by post to Committee Members by the Finance Team on Friday 10 June 2011.

The Head of Finance submitted the Draft Financial Statements 2010/11 (Subject to Audit) for the Committee’s consideration. The Chairman advised the Committee that this was an opportunity for Members to examine the draft Financial Statements in detail and question Officers on the content.

The Head of Finance reminded Members that under new regulations the Accounts, Audit and Risk Committee had responsibility responsible for reviewing the annual Statement of Accounts, but it does not have to formally approve them. This responsibility had been delegated to the responsible financial officer. The responsible financial officer at Cherwell District Council is the Section 151 Officer (Head of Finance).  

During the course of the review Members of the Committee made 17 observations including questions and comments which were duly responded to by Finance Officers. The Chairman invited Members to contact the Finance Team with any further questions or comments they may have.

The Head of Finance advised the Committee that the a briefing note outlining the review process of the draft Financial Statements 2010/11 (Subject to Audit) would be circulated to Members together with a summary of the amendments made ahead of the Committee’s 22 June 2010 meeting at which the Head of Finance would provide a verbal update.

The Committee thanked all staff in the Closedown Team for their hard work in preparing the Draft Financial Statements 2010/11 and responding to all of their comments and questions.